The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 08, 1998
Filed:
Feb. 04, 1997
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A FLASH EPROM cell in accordance with the present invention is disclosed in which the erasure is accomplished under a constant electric field. The FLASH EPROM cell includes a semiconductor device including a source, a drain and a gate and a constant current circuit coupled to the source. The constant current circuit ensures that a constant field is applied to the tunneling oxide of the FLASH EPROM cell during erasure thereof. In so doing, the FLASH EPROM cell can be erased with a minimum of stress to the device. In addition, the FLASH EPROM cell of the present invention can be used with various power supplies without affecting the characteristics thereof. Finally, through the FLASH EPROM cell of the present invention, the short channel effect associated with smaller device sizes can be substantially reduced.